I just started work recently after graduating from college here in Canada, and I now got a job in consulting. I can now contribute to an RRSP for retirement and only have fixed options. I looked at these funds in Zoya and didn’t find any. I can only contribute to these funds through below:
Canadian Equity:
BG Fundamental Cdn Equity
CC&L Grp cdn Equity Fnd
US Equity
BLK US Equity Index Reg
International Equity
MFS Intl Equity
Foreign/Global Equity
MFS Global Equity
Balanced Funds
B.G. Balanced Fund
BLK LP Index 2025 Fund
BLK LP Index 2030 Fund
BLK LP Index 2035 Fund
BLK LP Index 2040 Fund
BLK LP Index 2045 Fund
BLK LP Index 2050 Fund
BLK LP Index 2055 Fund
BLK LP Index 2060 Fund
BLK LP Index 2065 Fund
BLK LP Index Retirement
CCBL Grp Balanced Plus
How do I assess if they’re halal since I don’t have access to these funds information to see which companies they hold and narrow down to one that is shariah-compliant, and then I can purify some of the haram money by buying through the checking account?
Or should I opt out of investing and look for other options, maybe opening up my RRSP and buying the index and other individual stocks? Any advice would be appreciated
Assalaamu Alykum Mohamed! Welcome to the Community. Great to have you here.
Yeah, so, at the moment, our coverage for funds and ETFs doesn’t include the Canadian Market. It’s absolutely on our roadmap, however.
I think our blog is a good to start with some ideas. Although it’s written for Americans and their 401K program, the practical advice applies to Canadians.
From my perspective, this is how I’d break it down regarding shariah compliance. Keep in mind this isn’t financial advice. I’ve no idea if these are good places to keep your money. As a rule of thumb, equity funds, in general, are more likely to have more shariah compliant holdings. So the balanced funds would be at the bottom of the list. Both the Canadian Equity options you have here include the Canadian banks in their holdings, I quickly looked at their top ten, so I’d probably look past them as well.
So the remaining three; are US, International, and Foreign/Global. I’d take a deeper look at their prospectus before deciding. The links below are from google, so let me know if they aren’t are right funds.
Congratulations on starting your career btw! May Allah grant you success and your work be filled with barakah. It’s tricky to find perfect solutions here because we’re often trying to fit square pegs into round holes. I always recommend speaking to a local scholar as well.
This is a good start, and I will look at the link you sent and try to speak with some people here in Ottawa. Hopefully, Zoya rolls that out soon for Canadian Market and can cover funds soon in sha Allah.